Informa and Morgan Advanced both 'on track'

London open

Ahead of Friday's open, the FTSE 100 was being called down 24 points at 7109.

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Informa remains on track for the full year, the exhibitions organiser and business publisher said after 10 months of the year gone. Underlying revenue growth was up 3.9% compared to this time last year, with the combination of the acquired UBM completed on schedule.

Morgan Advanced Materials said sales for the 10 months to October 2018 were up 7.2% on an organic constant-currency basis, adding that expectations for the full year remained unchanged. For the quarter to October, organic constant-currency sales growth was 6.4% compared to the same period last year.

Residential landlord Grainger has agreed to forward fund and buy a 108-home private rental development in Tottenham Hale, North London for £41m. The developer is Waterside Places, a joint venture between Muse Developments and the Canal & River Trust.

Newspaper round-up

Retailers have called for “decisive action” from the government to support the UK’s battered high streets after new data showed the number of shops, pubs and restaurants lying empty has soared by more than 4,400 in the first six months of this year. Closures increased by nearly 17% to 24,205 across 3,000 towns, cities, retail parks and shopping centres monitored by the Local Data Company. - Guardian

A Brussels plan to put a customs border in the Irish Sea if there is no Brexit agreement will be included in a divorce deal, a leaked letter from Theresa May suggests. The prime minister was accused last night of breaking her promise to the Democratic Unionist Party that she would never sign up to a deal that could allow Northern Ireland to be divided from the rest of the United Kingdom. - The Times

Walt Disney has revealed that its planned television streaming service is going to be called Disney+ and confirmed that it would be showing television shows spun off from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Speaking on an earnings call chief executive Bob Iger said that a TV series about the Marvel character Loki is in development for the service, featuring the actor Tom Hiddleston. - Telegraph

US close

Wall Street recorded some mixed trading on Thursday following solid gains during the previous session, as focus shifted from yesterday's mid-terms to the latest policy announcement from the Federal Reserve.

At the close, the Dow Jones was 0.04% higher at 26,191.22, while the S&P 500 closed 0.25% lower at 2,806.83 and the Nasdaq had lost 0.53% to 7,530.88.

Stocks ended mostly lower on Thursday, following sharp gains seen the day before, after the Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged, but the rate-setting committee said it "expects further gradual increases in the target range for the federal funds rate".